


Hair Salon

by ancallis



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Mild Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-13 14:39:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18033605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ancallis/pseuds/ancallis
Summary: What seventeen year old knows what they want to do in life? Ino is no exception to that.





	Hair Salon

She wasn’t sure what had happened. Tears gathered in her eyes as she clenched her fists, nails biting into her palms. This wasn’t what she wanted. Expected. Being invited to join the Department of Interrogation was supposed to an honor, supposed to bring glory to the clan as her father and ancestors did before her. She possessed an innate skill for getting information out of people, whether it was due to her appearance or something else, the scant times she had had to do so yielded excellent results. Yet, why was she resisting it so much? She stares at the scroll, thrown onto the floor violently, until her vision grows blurred. When she closes her eyes, tears drip down her cheeks. 

What does she really want to do with her life? Her career? Her mother’s dull gaze pierces her when she walks in. “Pick yourself up.” She mutters coldly. “How unsightly of a young lady.” Ino glares at her from her sunken form on the ground. What does she know about what she’s going through? 

“If you do not accept this, you might as well get married.” Her mother spits out. “Do your clan honor for once. Without your father around, you’ve turned this clan into a mockery.” With the last statement, she turns around and shuts the door quietly. Ino wishes she would’ve slammed it. 

Ino drags her arm across her face to dry it and pulls a kunai from somewhere nearby, standing up and walking to the bathroom. She stares at herself in the mirror. Her eyes are harshly red, her own reflection alien. Then, she saws through her thick ponytail with the knife, hair plopping onto the floor and sink. Her rubber band slips off and her hair falls to her shoulders, unevenly cut. She cuts even more until there’s almost no more hair left. She sneers at her reflection when done, setting down the kunai. What’s left is an ugly, misshapen boy cut. It feels exhilarating. 

After dumping her mounds of hair in the bin, she escapes from her house to go into the woods. She’s barefoot and it’s too late at night for a lady to be out and people may see her crazed self, high on adrenaline. Unfortunately, she simply doesn’t care. She soars from tree to tree, wood digging into her feet, laughing. She flips and falls and everything has never felt lighter and liberating. Who cares if she doesn’t know what she wants to do with her life? To hell with her mother! To hell with the tradition! To hell with marriage! As long as Ino Yamanaka has breath left in her body and chakra to spare, she resolves to never marry, settle down, or do what is expected of her. She stops and leaps to the top of a tree and feels the wind rustle her shorn locks. The night is reflected in her eyes and she knows now her life is forever changed. A small smile makes its way onto her face. She wonders if Hinata is still awake...

**Author's Note:**

> In love with the idea of Ino with short hair. Her crazy long ponytails never seemed to fit her.


End file.
